mongol expansion & eurasian commercial axes 51
in the lands of azerbaijan, georgia, rūm, etc.”60 the way the story ends
here seems to suggest that Batu resigned himself to seeing the rival Qara
Qorum court claim transcaucasia—which was certainly not the case.
rather, the conflict became ever more merciless once güyük came
to the throne in 1246, ending the interregnum in the empire. al-‛umarī
offers the most coherent account of relations between Batu and the great
Khan, since although other authors record the same events, only Juwaynī
offers a causal explanation of how they affected intra-Mongol relations.
the syrian scholar recounts how güyük, seeking to wrest transcauca-
sia away from the sarai khanate, sent the emir eljigidei to arrest Batu’s
governors on the spot. the imperial agent carried out his orders but the
prisoners, who had their own orders from sarai to capture eljigidei, broke
their chains, seized the emir and led him off to their khan’s horde across
the mountains, where he was boiled to death. on learning of this insult,
güyük mobilised 600,000 cavalry and sent them to bring the rebel Jochid
chieftains to heel. only the unexpected death of the great Khan after ten
days on the march averted the first intra-Mongol war.61
güyük Khan’s sudden death in april 1248 not only removed an extremely
dangerous rival for Batu, but also put him into an excellent position to
influence the election of the successor to the imperial throne, since he
was the senior member of the dynasty as well as being chief of the largest
and most powerful ulus. taking advantage of this situation, the Volga khan
successfully pushed through the election of tolui’s son Möngke, despite
stubborn resistance, and blocked the aspirations of Ögödei’s descendants
and their chaghataid supporters, who refused to acknowledge the new
ruler until 1251.62 when at last they fell into line, this did not spare them
the fierce reprisals launched by the duumvirate, Möngke and Batu. despite
60 spuler, History, p. 127.
61 tiesenhausen, Sbornik, i, pp. 222–223, ‛umarī/lech, pp. 100–101. the premature
dating for eljigidei’s death comes from al-‛umarī; other credible sources have him still
alive until 1251/2, but confirm that he died at Batu’s hand as a victim of the squabble
over transcaucasia between sarai and Qara Qorum; cf. Barthold, Boyle, “Batu,” p. 1106;
spuler, Horde, pp. 28–29; Jackson, “dissolution,” p. 200, and a Quellenkritik at ‛umarī/lech,
pp. 222–225. the animosity between Batu and güyük dated back to the time of the central
european campaigns (decei, “invazia,” p. 203). there is also a credible economic motive
for the expedition against the golden horde, since the great Khan was in ill health and
an alcoholic, and quickly ran through his own exchequer; a wastrel as a ruler, he left his
successor Möngke large debts as well as a number of other hindrances; cf. Juwaynī/Boyle,
i, pp. 254–255 and ii, p. 604, rashīd al-dīn/Boyle, pp. 184–185, spuler, Geschichte, p. 142,
allsen, Imperialism, p. 21.
62 cf. Barthold, Boyle, “Batu,” p. 1139; allsen, Imperialism, pp. 22–26.